Hilton and Watkins game-time decisions in Week 9

Heading into kickoff time, a few top-tier fantasy players remain to be game-time decisions. They include: Sammy Watkins, Ronnie Hillman, T.Y. Hilton, and Brandon Marshall. The following is a Sunday morning accelerated update on all of the top fantasy-relevant injury news.

As a reminder, there are five status designations players can have: active, probable, questionable, doubtful and out. The active and out designations are self-explanatory. The probable designation signifies a player has a greater than 50 percent chance of being active for the game. Questionable means the player essentially has a 50-50 chance of playing. Doubtful means the player has less than a 25 percent chance of playing.

Quarterbacks

Marcus Mariota suffered a Grade 2 left MCL sprain in Week 6. He returned to practice fully this week, and will get the start on Sunday. He will wear a hinged knee brace to protect the still-healing MCL. The brace will slightly hinder his mobility. Besides that, he should look like his pre-injury self. His fantasy upside takes a hit with the absence of Kendall Wright due to injury. Mariota is a mid-range QB2 this week at New Orleans.

Dave Pratt, DPT, is a licensed physical therapist and a former collegiate football player. He has years of experience analyzing game footage and injuries. Throughout the NFL season, he will breakdown and discuss all fantasy-significant injuries in this weekly column. The first edition of the column will be made available on Monday afternoons, and updates will be made throughout the week. An accelerated update on all of the pressing injury news will be made available on Sunday mornings. Follow him on Twitter @PFF_DavePratt